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| According to Wikipedia, the Bicycle Pedal Boat is a Vehicle |
There’s a bit of confusion about vehicles and vehicular operation around the internet. I suspect some of the confusion results from a fondness for bicycle-specific facilities that reduce the stress level of people on bikes. The confusion is made worse by our legal system. In most states, bicycles are considered as vehicles, though in some, they are called “devices” that are supposed to operate as IF they were vehicles. Why do I bring this up now, my loyal reader might wonder? Well, it is because I saw the bicycle pedal boat at the top of this post. That CERTAINLY wouldn't qualify as a vehicle, would it?
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| Vehicular Operation of a Motorcycle - Darn Good Bike Handling Skills, Too! |
So I went to one of my favorite sources. I was surprised to find that my own thoughts that a vehicle is a wheeled conveyance are WRONG! According to Wikipedia,
a vehicle is any “mobile machine that transports passengers or cargo. Most often, vehicles are manufactured, such as bicycles, cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats and aircraft.”
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| Yet Another Vehicle - Lockheed P-80 at Western Museum of Flight in Torrance, California |
Hmm, so that means that the only way you can AVOID vehicular operation of a bike is to walk it. It also means that a horse isn’t a vehicle, though the rider is supposed to follow vehicular rules. And that, really is what things are about. Our road system works, more or less, because people follow rules. It’s why we “stay right” (in the USA) and why people aren’t supposed to crash into those in front of them. Still, I never really thought of a bicycle pedal boat as a vehicle before.
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| No Vehicles in this Photo, Though Dorothy is Teaching these Children About Operating Them |
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| Vehicle Surrounded by "Non Vehicles" |
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| No Vehicles in This Shot from Keller, Texas, Though They're Following the Rules of the Road |
4 comments:
I need me one of them pedal boats!
A while ago, when we lived by a lake, I considered building an amphibious bike with a chain-driven propeller and floats on each side that would allow the rider to cycle into the water. Then we moved away from the lake, so there was no point. I'd like to see an amphibious bike in action someday.
Last winter, facing long periods with no snow on the cross-country ski trails, my colleague George and I tried to devise recreational equipment that didn't depend on a narrow range of specific weather conditions. One of our concepts was a merger of a pedal-powered tracked vehicle and an inflatable boat. We envisioned a big, floppy thing that could conform to surface contours on land and use the drive tracks as paddlewheels in the water.
The post + the comments are a treat. While I like looking at water, I can't swim. So, I will pass on the boat idea.
Paz :)
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No Need for Non-Robot proof here!